Cheers!

A tough thing to do, but a freeing thing to do.

HWA: Pray For My Son Who Is Dying, AND Send Me Your Money!

The First Martyr of the End Time

The Philadelphia Church of God has spent over two decades deifying Herbert Armstrong.  They now are attempting to deify Richard Armstrong, by calling him the first martyr of the end times.

“God called on Abraham to be willing to sacrifice his son. God was willing to sacrifice His Son for you and me. I have had to give up my son. Richard David Armstrong died Wednesday morning, July 30, as the first real martyr for God’s cause in these latter days just before the return of Christ in all power and glory” (Herbert W. Armstrong, co-worker letter, Aug. 5, 1958). 

One thing that stands out in the article is the attitude of Herbert Armstrong.  Never one to miss an opportunity to gather in money, he used Richard Armstrong's terrible accident to guilt trip members into sending in as much money as they could.  HWA would later use this same tactic when his wife was dying from a blocked colon.

Another co-worker letter, dated August 28 of the same year, states, “Some had thought God would never let such a thing happen …. But nothing would please Satan more than to see us now lose faith.”

It’s no wonder why God, in the same chapter known as the “faith chapter,” goes into detail about the martyrdom of so many of His saints. The Church and its co-workers received perhaps the biggest lesson in faith it had ever received! In a co-worker letter written after the accident, before Richard died (on July 27), Mr. Armstrong scolded many of them for letting down in their prayers and offerings. “Co-workers, will you not only pray for my son’s miraculous and speedy recovery—but also for the financial salvation of the Work of God?” Throughout the letter, with the call for more believing prayers, Mr. Armstrong called for more faithful offerings. He said Satan had struck one of God’s “very chiefest laborers,” but that God’s Work needed more co-worker laborers “who help with their urgent heart-rending prayers, and with their tithes and generous offerings, regularly every month, or even every week.”

The financial salvation of the work?  Seriously?  How sick can the manipulative man get?  This request was all about manipulation. Make the members feel that because THEY had slacked off on prayers and in giving that it was their fault Richard had this terrible accident.

"Disgusting sinners!  If you had been praying more my son would not have been injured and the work would be increasing! Get on your knees and beg God to heal my son and to correct your sinful attitudes as you give more money!"

LCG: The Legacy of Fools?

LCG, 

the land of constant rainbows and lollipops

Living Church of God is highlighting an article from 2010 on their World Tomorrow web site.  It was written by J. Davey Crockett III, the Legacy of Fools.

It is kind of funny to see such a title on a web page for a Church of God that has such serious issues as LCG seems to be having with its members.

Crockett writes:

There are great stories and interesting examples of legacies, large and small, in the history of mankind. In this country, there have been the Carnegies, the Rockefellers, the Vanderbilts, the Fords and many other philanthropists. In Europe, the British Commonwealth and other developed nations, great legacies have been bequeathed by the leading industrialists, financiers and royal families. Those physical legacies will pass away in time.

People of ordinary means also leave legacies. In Ecclesiastes 7:1 Solomon wrote that "A good name is better than precious ointment." The Book of Proverbs puts forth this idea in this way, "A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, loving favor rather than silver and gold" (Proverbs 22:1). Certainly a family name associated with honesty and fair dealing is a wonderful legacy to those who receive it. A loving relationship within the family in which children have been brought up in the "nurture and admonition of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4), is also a priceless, timeless legacy.

The other side of the coin is not so valuable. Proverbs 3:35 states plainly that, "The legacy of fools is shame." Shame? Webster's Collegiate Dictionary defines shame as, "a painful emotion caused by consciousness of guilt, shortcoming, or impropriety. A condition of humiliating disgrace or disrepute." No one wants this! Yet many live their lives in ways that bring shame and other undesirable consequences, which are not confined to this current generation, but which spill over into subsequent generations. We shouldn't be surprised.

LCG leaders are into the 3rd and 4th  generations of their existence and it most certainly is true that the undesirable consequences of disgrace and disrepute continue to spill over into today's leadership. The track record of abuse has left a trail of destruction in its wake with destroyed lives, including death and mayhem.

Crockett continues with this:

Anciently, in the passage where the Ten Commandments were given, the Bible made this very clear in Exodus 20:5, "...For I , the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me."

So, as you contemplate your legacy, what will it be? If you are truly seeking answers to the important questions that every person should ask, and if you are dedicated to following God's way of life, your legacy will not be that of fools, but that of a wise, discerning person who wants God's will for yourself and your descendants.

A wise and discerning Christian would actually see that Jesus is missing from LCG and would take some serous steps in leaving the group!

The legacy we leave is ours to choose. Will it be a godly legacy of truth and light, exemplified by the Christian life, or the "legacy of fools" which brings shame and disgrace?

A wise and discerning Christian would also know that any organization that has spawned Dave Pack and Bob Thiel has some serious spiritual issues!

I think we all know, and certainly the LCG members who read and post here know, that shame and disgrace have followed the Living Church of God since it stabbed Global Church of God in the back, which in turn had stabbed it's mother church in the back and stole membership rolls and actively sought to divert tithe money into their pockets.  After all, maintaining their privileged lives was far more important than the spiritual welfare of the members that they seduced to follow them.

Segregation in Chicago Churches in 1960's

Herbert Armstrong: Yes, I know they are revolting...but you had better show your children these pictures!

By SHT, Contributing Writer

I don't get angry that often - really angry - when I read the way we were. But this is different.

I am literally fuming at what members of the Church and readers of The Plain Truth were TOLD to show our children.

In the Plain Truth of February, March, of 1955, Herbert Armstrong told parents to show their children the horrifying, graphic imagery of Armageddon that was drawn by Basil Wolverton. In 1955 - this was insanely graphic for the time. 

In a response to people who those who "griped" and "criticized" Herbert Armstrong about not wanting to see such realistic pictures, even that they would stop reading - and some, rightly, not wanting their children to see such pictures - what did Herbert do?

First, he admits that the pictures are TERRIFYING and REVOLTING.

Then, he doubles down and says he WANTS children to see those pictures!

He wants the children to "WAKE UP" and see what's happening. Herbert wants these children to "seek God and His Divine Protection." And that these horrible events NEED NOT strike them - that they MAY be taken on a flight to the place of safety."

This is the most disgusting, revolting piece of pure garbage I have ever come across from researching the bowels of historic Armstrongism. Because showing children, intentionally, these images, is absolutely horrible. Then, telling them that these images may really happen? Even worse. But then putting it into their heads that they are going to be taken to some place of safety? At any time? That's the WORST UNCERTAINTY a child could ever imagine. These tactics were abusive. They were destructive. They were nightmare-inducing and fear-enabling. Most of all, all of this were nothing but lies that severely harmed the lives of children in their most formative years of life.

What kind of man would ever WANT to show children these kinds of pictures? What kind of man would want children to focus on Armageddon, death, destruction, boils, pain and hurt? What kind of man would TELL parents to show kids this? What kind of man would tell parents to tell kids they might be whisked to some place of safety? What kind of man would make children believe that all of this was going to happen - and SOON?

You know what kind of man would do that. And yet, so many stand behind this kind of man as some sort of holy restorer of divine truth. The man many stand behind was an abusive liar. And the harm he caused by advising parents to show children this sort of CRAP - and teach them LIES that it would happen in their childhood and lifetime - cannot be understated. Because my parents were two that listened to that man. And I believed my parents. And I know others who believed the same thing. And our childhoods were stolen.

Children need to learn about Jesus Christ. Children need to learn about the love of God. How to help people. How to care for others. How to worship and praise God, and be thankful. Children need to have fun, live life, play, learn, laugh, and love. Children need to develop in an atmosphere of joy and peace - to the best that their surroundings allow. Though we all know that life in childhood for many is never a bed of roses - a mix of the best and worst of times - the LAST thing that a child needs is the horrifying images of Armageddon, death and destruction in their heads, their parents telling them it's all real, and at any moment they might be whisked to the place of safety. That's not Christianity. That's just abuse. And that's why I am angry I came across this absolutely disgusting piece of crap of an article in "The Plainest Bullcrap" of March, 1955.